Surah 9
(Madinan Period)
Title
This surah has two titles, al-Tawbah and al-Bara'ah. The former title owes its origin to the reference in the surah to God's pardoning of lapses committed by some believers (see verse 117); and the latter title to the public dissolution of all treaty obligations with the Polytheists mentioned in the opening verse of the surah.
It is noteworthy that the usual opening formula, Bi ism Allāh al-Raḥmän al-Raḥīm ('In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful') is not prefixed to this surah. Commentators on the Qur'an have attributed a number of different reasons for this. Of these the explanation given by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī seems to be the most plausible: as the Prophet (peace be on him) did not direct his scribes to prefix the formula, his Companions and Successors also omitted it. Succeeding generations similarly adhered to the omission. (See Rāzī's introductory remarks to this surah in his Tafsir - Ed.) This demonstrates how the Muslims painstakingly sought to receive the Qur'ānic text from the Prophet (peace be on him) exactly as it was revealed, and the care which they took to preserve it in its pristine form.
Period of Revelation and Contents
The surah comprises three discourses.
The first discourse runs from the opening verse to the fifth section of the surah (i.e. verses 1-37 Ed.) It was revealed in or around Dhu al-Qa'dah 9 A.H./631 C.E., soon after the Prophet (peace be on him) dispatched Abu Bakr as the leader of the Pilgrims to Makka. After the verses had been revealed, the Prophet (peace be on him) instructed 'Ali to follow Abu Bakr and to recite the same verses proclaiming the new directives embodied in them before a represen- tative gathering of Arabs who had gone there for Pilgrimage.
The second discourse covers sections six to nine of the surah (i.e. verses 38-72 - Ed.) It was revealed in or around Rajab 9 A.H./631 C.E. when the Prophet (peace be on him) was busy making his preparations for an expedition to Tabuk. The discourse seeks to arouse the believers to wage jihād, and reproaches severely those who, out of hypocrisy or infirmity of their faith, or out of sheer sloth and laziness, were reluctant to risk their lives and wealth in God's cause.
Beginning with section ten (verse 73 ff.), the third discourse runs up to the end of the surah. Revealed upon the Prophet's return from the Tabuk expedition, it consists of several fragments which were revealed on different occasions during that period, and which, under God's own instruction, were arranged by the Prophet (peace be on him) in the form of a coherent discourse. Since all these fragments centre around a common subject, and are related to the same set of events, any incongruity does not arise. The third discourse warns the hypocrites about their misdeeds and strongly censures those who, on the occasion of the expedition to Tabük, had stayed behind. The verses also embody a combination of reproach and pardon for the believers who, even though they were sincere in their faith, had abstained from waging jihad in God's cause.
Chronologically, the first discourse should have come at the end of the surah. However, in view of the significance of its contents, the Prophet (peace be on him) in arranging the Qur'anic text placed it at the beginning of the surah.
Historical Background
Having discussed the surah's period of the revelation, let us now look at its historical setting.
The contents of the surah are related to events arising from the Treaty of Hudaybīyah (6 A.H./628 C.E). By the time this treaty was concluded, the struggle which had carried on for six long years had begun to bear fruit and Islam had emerged as the basis of an organized society, the inspiring force of a distinct cultural entity, and the guiding principle of a fully-fledged, sovereign state. The relatively peaceful atmosphere created by the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyah enabled Islam to propagate its teachings far and wide. (For a more detailed treatment of this, see the introductory remarks to surahs al-Ma'idah 5 and al-Fath 48.) The subsequent course of events followed two quite different directions but led to dire consequences. One of these concerned Arabia, and the other the Byzantine Empire.
A number of effective measures were taken by the Muslims after the conclusion of the Treaty to propagate Islam and consolidate and reinforce Muslim power. The result was that within a period of two years Islam had spread considerably and had become so immensely powerful that in comparison to Islam the age-old Jahiliyah of Arabia was reduced to an utterly ineffectual position. Eventually, when the more zealous members of the Quraysh found themselves on the verge of defeat, they lost all patience and broke the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. By so doing they wanted to free themselves from the constraints of the Treaty and prepare for a decisive encounter with Islam. The Prophet (peace be on him), however, did not allow the Quraysh to seize the initiative. Launching a sudden attack on Makka in Ramadan & A.H./629 C.E. he was able to seize it. (See surah 8, n. 43 above.) Later, the ancient Jahiliyah of Arabia resorted to desperate acts of belligerency. On the occasion of the Battle of Hunayn other tribes loyal to Jahiliyah mustered their military forces together in a bid to prevent the spread of Islam's reformative revolution which, after the capture of Makka, had almost reached its zenith. Their efforts, however, came to naught and their defeat made it abundantly evident that Arabia was destined to become and remain Dar al-Islām. Hardly one year had passed after the Battle of Hunayn than the greater part of Arabia entered the fold of Islam. The power of Jahiliyah lay shattered. Only a few opponents remained in the arena, and the ones that could still be found lay scattered across the peninsula, unable to wield any mentionable influence.
Events which took place on the borders of the Byzantine Empire in the north contributed to this trend. The Prophet (peace be on him) showed exceptional courage when he led a thirty thousand- strong force against the Byzantine army. By contrast, the Byzantine forces demonstrated timidity insofar as they chose to avoid armed conflict with the Muslims. As a result both the Prophet (peace be on him) and his faith were held in awe throughout Arabia. Upon the Prophet's return from Tabük, delegation after delegation poured into Madina from every corner of the peninsula, embracing Islam and committing themselves to obey the Prophet (peace be on him).* This development has been portrayed in the Qur'an in the following words:
When there comes to you help from Allah, and victory, and you see people enter the religion of Allah in crowds... (al-Nasr 110: 1-2).
Conflict with the Byzantine Empire had begun even before the conquest of Makka. After the Treaty of Hudaybiyah the Prophet (peace be on him) sent many delegations to different parts of Arabia calling people to Islam. One such delegation went to the tribes inhabiting land close to the Syrian border in the north. These tribes were mainly Christians and were largely under the influence of the Byzantine Empire. They put fifteen members of the delegation to the sword at a place called Dhat al-ȚṬalaḥ (or Dhat Aṭlāḥ). Only the leader of the delegation, Ka'b ibn 'Umayr al-Ghifārī, managed to return home safely. (See Wäqidī, vol. 2, pp. 752-3; Ibn Sa'd, vol. 2, pp. 127-8- Ed.) Around the same period the Prophet (peace be on him) sent an envoy, Harith ibn 'Umayr, to Shuraḥbil ibn 'Amr, the chief of Busrá, in order to communicate to him the message of Islam. Shuraḥbil, who was both a tribal chief and a satrap of the Byzantine Empire, was responsible for the assassination of the Prophet's envoy, Härith. (See Ibn Sa'd, vol. 2, p. 128 - Ed.)
In these circumstances the Prophet (peace be on him) sent a three thousand-strong army of devotees towards the Syrian border in Jumad al-Awwal 8 A.H./629 C.E. This action was intended to secure the area for the Muslims and to deter the opponents of Islam from committing excesses against them should they mistakenly consider that the Muslims lacked strength.
When the army approached Ma'an, reports were received that Shuraḥbil was advancing towards them with a hundred thousand- strong army. Reports were also received that the Caesar of Rome was himself present at Hims, and that he had dispatched reinforce- ments to the tune of another hundred thousand under the command of his younger brother, Theodore. Against all odds the three thousand-strong Muslim contingent continued to advance and clashed with Shuraḥbil's army, a hundred thousand strong, at Mu'tah. (For details of the expedition of Mu'tah see Ibn Sa'd, vol. 2, pp. 128-30; Waqidī, vol. 2, pp. 755-79; and Ibn Hisham, vol. 2, pp. 373-89 Ed.)
*The traditionists have mentioned here seventy delegations comprised of ordinary tribes- men, chiefs and princes from all areas of Arabia.
The expected outcome of such an encounter was not hard to imagine the total extermination of the Muslim force. What happened, however, was quite different. It came as a shock to the whole of Arabia and the Middle East that the Romans failed to gain the upper hand even though they outnumbered the Muslims by thirty-three to one. It was this which aroused many people's initial interest in Islam. Ultimately, many thousands of people from the semi-independent Arab tribes living in Syria and its adjoining areas, from the Najdi tribes that inhabited the regions not far from Iraq and who were under the influence of Chosroes, converted to Islam. People from the tribes of Sulaym (whose head was 'Abbās b. Mirdās al-Sulami), of Ashja', of Ghaṭfān, of Dhubyān, of Fazārah, also chose at this stage to embrace Islam. Farwah ibn 'Amr al-Judhami, an Arab commander of the Byzantine army, also embraced Islam and inspired awe among the enemies of Islam by the fervour of his faith. When Caesar came to know that Farwah had embraced Islam, he had him arrested. He was given a clear choice between continued adherence to Islam in which case he would be put to the sword, and renunciation of Islam in which case he would continue to live and have his office restored to him. Calmly and confidently he chose Islam, laying down his life for the sake of truth. Incidents such as these alerted Caesar to the gravity of the 'menace' that was steadily advancing towards the Byzantine Empire.
In an attempt to avenge himself for the Battle of Mu'tah, Caesar ordered military preparations to commence on the Syrian border the following year. Joining their forces with Caesar, the chiefs of the Ghassanid and other Arab tribes began to muster their troops. The Prophet (peace be on him) was ever vigilant and kept himself abreast of all developments which, had any bearing on his mission. He immediately understood the implications of Caesar's military preparations and promptly decided to challenge this mighty army on the battlefield. Any show of weakness on the part of the Muslims would have been disastrous. On the one hand, it might have given a fresh lease of life to the dying forces of Arabian Jahiliyah which had been dealt a crushing blow at Hunayn. On the other hand, any demonstration of weakness might have encouraged the hypocrites to cause serious damage to Islam from within. For the hypocrites were in touch with the Ghassanid Christian prince and with Caesar himself through Abū ‘Āmir. Under the garb of religious piety they actively worked to achieve their sinister purposes and had even built a mosque - the Mosque of Dirar - in the vicinity of Madina which served as their operational base. Also Caesar himself, whose morale was also high at the time for he had just then defeated the Persians, could have been prompted to mount an attack.
If these three forces were to join hands and unitedly attack the Muslims they could well turn the tables against them; the Muslims could lose what then seemed to be a winning battle. Alive to these facts and realizing the gravity of the situation, the Prophet (peace be on him) publicly appealed to the Muslims to prepare for war against one of the two superpowers. He did so even though there prevailed near famine conditions in Arabia. The scorching heat of summer was at its peak, the harvest season had just about arrived, and there was a conspicuous shortage of material resources needed to wage a war. On similar previous occasions, the usual practice of the Prophet (peace be on him) had been not to disclose such strategic information beforehand, i.e. the direction in which he would move and the enemy with whom he would engage. In fact whenever he left Madina on a military expedition it was his practice to conceal his intent by following an unusual route to the battlefield. On this occasion, however, he did not conceal his intent, and declared that the Romans were his target, and that he would advance towards Syria.
The gravity of the situation was felt by everyone in Arabia. For the remaining devotees of Jāhiliyah the encounter between Islam and the Byzantine Empire offered them a last ray of hope and they looked forward to its outcome eagerly. The hypocrites also fully expected the Romans to strike a deadly blow against Islam. From their base, the Mosque of Dirar, they looked forward to the future eagerly, hoping that the outcome of the battle would afford them an opportunity to play their sinister game with impunity. Hence they spared no effort in their attempts to undermine the Muslim military plans.
Sincere Muslims also realized that the cause for which they had been striving for the last twenty-two years was at stake. They knew well that valiant action could open the door to Islam's ascendancy over the whole world. Conversely, any lapse on their part might seal Islam's fate even in Arabia. Moved by such thoughts, they responded fervently to the Prophet's call and commenced their war preparations, each Muslim contributing much more than his financial means warranted. Huge amounts of money were donated by 'Uthman b. 'Affan and 'Abd al-Raḥmān b. 'Awf. 'Umar contributed half of all his belongings whereas Abu Bakr placed all that he possessed at the feet of the Prophet (peace be on him). In the same spirit, Companions with low incomes brought their hard-earned wages and donated them to the Prophet (peace be on him). Women generously donated their jewellery to the war fund. Moved by the zeal to fight in God's cause, thousands of Muslims flocked to Madina from far and wide and expressed their readiness to sacrifice their lives. Those who could not be included in the Muslim army because of the acute paucity of cavalry and other war provisions wept bitterly, and lamented their exclusion so pathetically that the Prophet (peace be on him) was moved. The occasion, in fact, served as a touchstone for distinguishing the sincere from the insincere, the true men of faith from the hypocrites. The moment was so crucial for Islam that not going to the battle-front revealed the hollowness of a man's claim to believe in Islam. Accordingly, whenever the Prophet (peace be on him) was informed during his journey to Tabuk that someone had decided to stay behind, he spontaneously said: 'Let him alone. If there is any good in him, God will re-unite him with you. And if it is otherwise, then [thank God that] He relieved you of him.' (Ibn Hisham, vol. 2, p. 523 - Ed.)
In the month of Rajab 9 A.H./631 C.E. the Prophet (peace be on him) along with thirty thousand soldiers of whom only one thousand were mounted marched towards Syria. Camels were so few that the soldiers had to take turns to ride them. The blazing heat of the summer and the scarcity of water added to their hardship. On this occasion the Muslims displayed a singular firmness of mind in enduring all hardships, for which they were amply rewarded upon their arrival at Tabuk. When the Muslims reached their destination they learned that Caesar and his tributaries had moved their troops away from the borders and that there was consequently no enemy with whom they could fight. The writers of the Sirah works (biographies of the Prophet) mention this incident in a manner which suggests that upon reaching Tabūk it was found that the reports which the Prophet (peace be on him) had received about the concentration of troops on the Syrian-Arabian border were false. The fact, however, is that Caesar had indeed begun amassing his troops on the border. He had to abandon the idea of an encounter and withdrew his army because the Prophet (peace be on him) arrived ahead of the anticipated time and well before the planned concentration of troops had been completed. Caesar had not forgotten that the Muslims had given a very good account of themselves earlier on the battlefield at Mu'tah, and despite the overwhelming odds against them. Hence Caesar did not dare confront the thirty thousand-strong army of Muslims especially when it was led by the Prophet (peace be on him) himself. He would probably have still been reluctant to engage in battle even if he had mustered a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand-strong army. (For the expedition to Tabuk see Ibn Hishām, vol. 2, pp. 515-29; Wäqidī, vol. 3, pp. 989-1025; Ibn Sa'd, vol. 2, pp. 165-8; Ṭabari, Taʼrikh, vol. 3, pp. 100-11 – Ed.)
The Prophet (peace be on him) was satisfied with the advantages accruing from this moral victory. Instead of pushing on any further, he chose to derive maximum political and strategic advantage from the incident. He stayed in Tabuk for twenty days and by exerting military pressure was able to make several buffer states, which had so far been under the hegemony of the Byzantine Empire, agree to become tributaries of the Islamic state and so resign themselves to vassal status. In this connection, mention should be made of some notable chiefs - Ukaydir b. 'Abd al-Malik al-Kindi of Du'mat al-Jandal, Yūḥannā b. Ru'bah of Eilah, and of the Christian chiefs of Maqnā, Jarbā', and Adhruḥ who agreed to pay the poll tax and accepted to live under the hegemony of Madina. The result was that the Islamic state now extended to the borders of the Byzantine Empire. In addition, a good number of Arab tribes whom successive Caesars had exploited against other Arabs crossed over to the Islamic side offering their support to the Muslims as opposed to the Romans.
This proved highly advantageous insofar as it enabled the Muslims to consolidate their position in Arabia before launching upon a prolonged conflict with the Romans. This bloodless victory at Tabuk shattered the power of both the unbelievers and the hypocrites who had looked forward to a revival of the ancient Jahiliyah of Arabia. In sheer desperation, a great number of them saw that the only reasonable course left open to them was to enter the fold of Islam. Even though some of them lacked inner conviction, their entrance into the fold of Islam ensured the assimilation of their forthcoming generations to Islam. The few die-hard unbelievers that remained loyal to polytheism and Jähiliyah were so enfeebled that they no longer constituted a serious obstacle to the completion of the reformatory revolution for which God had raised His Messenger (peace be on him).
Subject Matter
If we bear this background in mind it will help us appreciate more fully the major issues of the hour which the surah seeks to treat:
(a) Polytheism and all its offshoots should be absolutely obliterated from Arabia in order to ensure that that land would always remain the exclusive base of Islam; a land where no extraneous ideologies would be allowed to impair the purity of Islamic belief and practice, nor any non-Islamic elements allowed to create subversion. It was for this reason that a proclamation of total dissoci- ation from the unbelievers was made and all agreements and treaties previously concluded with them were pub- licly annulled.
(b) Since the believers were now in control of the Ka'bah it was considered altogether inappropriate to allow polytheistic practices to continue in the shrine which was originally consecrated for the worship of the One True God. It was, therefore, proclaimed that the Ka'bah should henceforth be placed under the exclusive charge of the believers and all practices rooted in polytheism and Jahiliyah should be forcibly extirpated from the precincts of the House of God. It was also proclaimed that the polytheists should no longer even be permitted to approach the Ka'bah. This was done to rule out the possibility of any further sacrilege of God's House built by the Prophet Abraham (peace be on him).
(c) It was also considered highly inappropriate for any vestige of pre-Islamic polytheistic custom to be allowed to continue under the new Islamic dispensation. Atten- tion was, therefore, drawn to their eradication. Of these, the hideous practice of nasi' (the transposing of a prohibited month) was forthwith forbidden. This was to serve as an example for Muslims to do away with all vestiges of Jahiliyah.